Guidelines

Reading Period

We accept submissions to the journal from June 1, through January 15, at noon EST. Submit via our online submission manager.

Simultaneous vs. Multiple Submissions
We do not consider multiple submissions, so please send only one manuscript at a time, either by mail or online. Do not send a second submission until you have heard about the first. Simultaneous submissions to other journals are fine as long as they are identified as such and we are notified immediately upon acceptance elsewhere.

If this is your first time submitting, you will need to create an account before uploading your document. To do this, click “My Account” at the top right corner of this page. To submit, all users must be logged in.

There is a $3 service fee for online submissions (current subscribers may submit online without charge*). This is not a reading fee.

Upload only one file containing one prose piece or one to five pages of poems. Include your full cover letter as the first page of the file.

From the drop-down genre menu, be sure to select the appropriate genre of the work you are submitting.

Free Online Submissions

Subscribe to Ploughshares and submit online to our regular reading period for free. You may subscribe here.

*If you are a current subscriber, you will still be prompted to checkout, but you will not be required to enter your credit card information and will not be charged.

Submit by Mail
We greatly prefer digital submissions, but you may mail submissions to:

Ploughshares
Emerson College
120 Boylston St.
Boston, MA 02116-4624

Mail your manuscript in a page-size manila envelope with your full name and address written on the outside (at least an inch down from the top, to account for USPS barcodes).

Identify the genre of your manuscript on the outside of the envelope.

You must include your email address in your cover letter. All manuscript replies will be sent via email.

If you would like your full manuscript to be returned, indicate this in your cover letter and ensure that you include a self-addressed, stamped envelope (SASE) with adequate postage.

We cannot return manuscripts to international addresses, even with IRCs.

There is no service charge for mail submissions.

Unsolicited work sent directly to a guest editor's home or office will be ignored and discarded; guest editors are formally instructed not to read such work.

Accessing Your Submissions
You can view the status of your current submission as well as a list of your past submissions at any time by logging in to your account and clicking “My Submissions.”

Notifications and Queries
Expect three to five months for a decision (our backlog is heaviest during the fall and spring). We now receive well over a thousand manuscripts a month, so please be patient. We accept queries after five months have passed. Queries as well as withdrawal notifications should be sent via email or the mail. They should include: